⚔ WARBAND

A two-player, simultaneous-turn fantasy war game for the terminal. Plan in secret. Strike at once.

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Install & play

Needs Python 3.9+. The installer puts everything in ~/.warband and starts the game. Run it again any time to update.

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL http://warband.3wolf.com/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell)

irm http://warband.3wolf.com/install.ps1 | iex

Afterwards just run warband (or ~/.warband/warband). Manual download: tar.gz · zip

The installers verify these SHA-256 checksums before installing:
3fe54988d20845b35a29c38beb6ce6baca2ad737ae4689a0f1c752684b03bff4 warband-client.tar.gz
1f8a149b151c9d5474cb1743a2aea0a587d4d3eae3bf6aac73b04dca07398dbe warband-client.zip

How a battle works

Muster. Each commander gets 600 gold to buy an army in secret. Gold you don't spend stays in the treasury for reinforcements.
The field. A random, mirror-symmetric map is generated: plains, forests that hide troops, hills that extend sight and bow range, swamps, lakes, mountains, villages and two keeps.
Orders. Both players give orders at the same time — move, attack, or hold. Nobody sees the other's plan. Leave and come back whenever you like; the turn only resolves when both of you have ended it.
Resolution. The server resolves volleys, maneuvers, collisions, melee, overwatch and upkeep, then each client animates what its own army saw. Fog of war is real.
Victory. Take the enemy keep, destroy their army, or hold the most ground when turn 40 ends. Each commander also gets a secret objective, revealed at the end.

Depth

Scenarios: Open Field, The Bridges (a river with two crossings), King of the Hill (relic stones worth victory points) and Siege (450g defender behind walls vs 750g attacker).
Heroes: one per army — General (Rally), Necromancer (Raise Dead), Ranger Lord (Mark Prey), Dwarf Thane (Oath of Iron). Mages Blink, clerics Bless.
Morale: heavy losses, being surrounded, fear of trolls and griffons, or a fallen hero make units break and flee. Cavalry ride down routers.
Weather & night: rain, fog and tailwinds are forecast a turn ahead; night falls every 8 turns and favours forest ambushes.
Economy: supply lines, upkeep for big armies, village watchtowers, palisades and shrines, pillaging, spies, treasure hoards guarded by neutral trolls.
Intel: real line of sight, last-seen ghosts of enemy units, and decoys that look like knights until someone hits them.
Orders: waypoints, attack-move, move-then-hold, evade-cavalry, group moves in formation.
Play your way: blind or informed draft, auto or manual deployment, optional turn deadlines, a practice AI, spectating, replays and an Elo ladder.

Rock, paper, spear

Spears break cavalry · cavalry rides down archers and mages · archers shred infantry and griffons · swordsmen cut through spears · trolls smash infantry · mages burn trolls.

	Unit	Cost	Role
S	Spearmen	40	Pike line. Braced on Hold vs charging cavalry.
W	Swordsmen	50	Armoured line. Shield wall halves arrows on Hold.
A	Archers	50	Range 3 (+1 on hills). Overwatch on Hold.
K	Knights	90	Heavy cavalry. +50% charge after moving 2+.
R	Wolf Riders	55	Fast scouts with long sight. Raiders.
M	Battle Mage	80	Fireball with splash. Ignores half of armour.
C	Cleric	60	Heals adjacent allies every turn.
T	Troll	100	Regenerates. Strides through forest.
G	Griffon Riders	110	Flies over anything, ignores zone of control.

Tips

Villages pay +10 gold a turn and heal your troops. Recruit new units at your keep.
Moving next to an enemy stops you (zone of control) — screen your archers with infantry.
Attacking one target from several sides adds a flanking bonus.
Units that kill gain rank (★), up to +30% damage.